


this will destroy you

by sionis



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Disability, Enemies to Lovers, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Safehouses, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-07-24 05:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7495989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sionis/pseuds/sionis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Batman is injured to the point of near death while on the job one night. The Joker is the one to find him and he takes it upon himself to take his old friend in and help him recuperate... despite Bruce's wishes otherwise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“While I was checking vitals I suggested a smile. You didn’t talk for a while, you were freezing. You said you hated my tone, it made you feel so alone. So you told me I ought to be leaving.”_

 --

When Batman had headed out for patrol that night he hadn’t anticipated it going more difficulty than usual. Damian was currently out of Gotham helping Dick with some matters in Bludhaven so Bruce had been alone when he left to patrol the city streets. He had been performing his rounds, soaring through his city like usual when he had first spotted some of Black Mask’s usual men roaming below.

Batman had heard rumors floating through Gotham that Black Mask had been dipping his hand in some international smuggling of various experimental drugs. The Dark Knight had been looking for an opportunity to investigate and this moment had seemed like just the chance he needed. The men had been moving quickly and seemed to be taking care not to be seen by anyone who was out and about below. Batman followed the pair and eventually ended up at the back of some seemingly abandoned warehouse. The warehouse had loomed over Batman with a dark, eerie air but one that had not been too unfamiliar to Crime Alley so Batman had shrugged off the clenching feeling in his gut and pressed onward, sneaking in after the pair as they entered the facility.

He remembered sneaking into the warehouse through one of the upper windows and quietly slinking deeper and deeper into the building through the cover of it’s shadows. The last thing Batman remembered clearly was that he had stepped out further into the warehouse after his targets when suddenly the shadows he had enveloped himself in were cast aside and he was caught standing in the center of the cement warehouse floor completely enveloped in light.

 --

All of these memories came to Bruce as he was trying to piece together what had happened before he fell unconscious and why it was that he seemed currently unable to open his eyes. He was just remembering the light he had been previously surrounded by when he was distracted by what sounded like a soft humming coming from somewhere a few yards away.

He strained his ears to listen but couldn’t recognize the voice or place the tune to whatever song the stranger seemed to be humming along to. As he listened in however, the feeling that the tone of the humming currently ringing around in his ears was awfully familiar began to slowly seep into him. A growing sense of dread slowly began to rise to the surface and Bruce’s previously absent-minded concern, which had been covered in a haze of sleepiness due to his formerly unconscious state, over whatever bandages were covering his eyes steadily turned into a sharp sense of panic. This was only amplified when Bruce realized that his seemed his arms and legs were also bound to the bed he was laying on as well.

He laid there silently for a few moments, his breathing quickly picked up and his heart rate increased by a few beats as fear began to settle into his gut. It was then that he became conscious of another sound in the room. It was the unmistakeable beeping of a heart monitor that was keeping time with his own heart rate and, like his breathing, was beginning to rapidly increase.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one who had become aware of the change in the heart monitor's beeping either. The sneaking fear and suspicion over just who the humming belonged to, that Bruce had been trying to push away, was confirmed when the room’s other occupant exclaimed,

“Oh goody! You’re awake! I’ve been so bored just waiting here you know. For a minute there I thought you really might have gone and made yourself comatose or something. Which, for the record, would be quite rude of you considering I DID put all of that effort into making sure you’re comfortable here.”

Bruce’s heart seized and his throat closed up at the Joker’s words. His mind raced as he tried to deduce what the best course of action would be for his current, unfortunate predicament. He lightly tugged on his arm restraints and, confirming his fear, it seemed he had been rendered completely immobile. Not to mention that he was still very dazed and confused as to how exactly he ended up in this situation in the first place. Still, knowing the Joker he figured keeping silent would only anger the madman so he finally managed to ask, “Joker… where am I?”

Bruce had wanted to keep his voice as level as possible as to not to display the mild state of panic he was in. His voice however had come out rough and scratchy, as if he had just fallen ill with a virus, that he didn’t think any effort of his would have made much of a difference one way or the other.

“Ohhh Brucey baby! That’s completely inconsequential so don’t you worry your pretty little head about that yet!” The Joker said as audibly tinkered with something on a table not far from the bed where Bruce lay.

Bruce was about to respond but he was caught off guard for a beat by what _exactly_ the Joker had just said. His heart felt like it might have dropped right out of his chest. Of all of the people in Gotham, the one he absolutely could not have know his secret identity was-

“Hey! You still awake there sugar? Don’t you go passing out on me again!”

Bruce took a deep breath through his nose and tried to steady himself. He still felt as if the ground had been pulled out right from underneath him however.

“Joker,” he began evenly, “I’m only going to ask you one more time. What. Is. Going. On?” He stressed each word deliberately in hope that Joker would actually pay attention to what Bruce had said and that he would actually give the man a coherent response.

“Tsk- there are less rude ways to ask for things. Ya know that right Bats? Especially since it WAS lil old me who oh so graciously picked you up and brought you back to my humble abode. Or... well... one of my safehouses that is!” He ended with a high-pitched cackle of his.

Alright, well, Bruce wasn’t quite sure how to interpret that and he severely doubted he would get much more out of his old adversary for the time being. He had another pressing concern however that he wanted addressed sooner rather than later. Bruce hadn’t forgotten about the bandages over his eyes that were obstructing his vision. He didn’t know much about his current situation but he still felt in his gut that there was something dreadfully wrong… and it wasn’t all directly related to the unfortunate company he had currently found himself in.

“Okay then... what’s wrong with my eyes?... Why can’t I see?” Bruce wasn’t quite sure he wanted the answer to that yet and as he voiced his concern, it only caused his anxiety to worsen. He wasn’t confident in his ability to do his job as Batman without the use of his vision and... if he couldn’t be Batman then…

“Oh! Is that all that’s got your panties in a twist babe? Here, they should be healed enough to take these off now anyway.”

The Joker reached for something on another table closer to Bruce’s bed. It clattered slightly, the sound of metal touching metal, as the Joker picked it up and drew nearer. Bruce waited, his breath still nervous as the hands drew nearer and nearer until the tips of Joker’s fingers grazed Bruce’s temple. Every fiber in Bruce’s being shot on edge at the contact with the madman and his instincts told him to bolt. However, He was rendered completely immobile by the restraints placed on him and he doubted he’d be able to get very far anyway. Bruce tried to keep his reactions in check but the heart monitor accelerated anyway as he lay tensely on the bed. Joker paused briefly, fingertips still gracing the side of Bruce’s forehead as he muttered, “So sensitive,” under his breath before he brought the tips of a pair of scissors to Bruce’s temple.

Bruce jerked his head back a fraction of an inch on instinct when the cool metal first made contact. Which he regretted when the Joker grabbed his chin with his other hand to hold his head steady.

“Hmm.... don’t move.” The Joker breathed, voice sounding focused. “You wouldn’t want me to mess up that expensive haircut of yours now would you Brucey? Or that pretty face?”

Bruce would have frowned indignantly at that if the hand gripping at his chin wasn’t already pursing his lips into what must have been a comical expression for the Dark Knight to be wearing.

He didn’t make any attempt to respond and the Joker didn’t comment further as he got to work on the bandages covering Bruce’s eyes. He skillfully snipped them away with the scissors, his other hand not leaving it’s hold on Bruce’s chin. Right as Joker was finally finishing up his work on Bruce’s bandages, which to the man’s credit he had removed quite carefully, Bruce finally found the voice to ask through the grasp,

“So you know then?”

“Hmm?” The Joker hummed, not quite catching on at first. “Oh, you mean that the big bad bat-rat is really some billionaire playboy whose idea of fun is running around Gotham making a completely uninteresting fool of himself. Nope. It never seemed worth mentioning.”

To Bruce’s immense relief, the Joker finally lifted up the bandages that had been covering Bruce's eyes and the Joker’s face, which was uncharacteristically trained into a mask of indifference, suddenly came into view.

Bruce frowned, or frowned as much as he could with the madman’s hand still on his face. “So you knew? Even before…?”

“Like I said sugerpie, it didn’t seem worth mentioning.” The Joker declared, finally releasing Bruce’s chin with a slight, condescending pat on the side of his face.

Bruce paused a moment to take that in and mule it over. In one way it would make sense. Joker’s interest had always been in Batman, not Batman’s daytime identity. If he was being honest with himself, Bruce wasn’t all that surprised that Joker knew. The Joker probably just never wanted to bring that fact to light. After all, he wouldn’t want to risk changing the dynamic of their relationship that had manifested over the years. But there would certainly be no coming back from this now that everything was out in the open.

“Alright, well, now do you mind telling me how it was that I managed to end up here?” Bruce questioned, looking around to take in the room he was just seeing for the first time.

True to Joker’s words, it did look very much like a safehouse. A safehouse which seemed to have been transformed into a sort of makeshift hospice. The rest of the place looked quite similar to a small apartment from what Bruce could see. Except there was a noticeable lack of any windows. The room Bruce was in was sparsely decorated and the air seemed to hang around him, slightly stale and in need of contact with the outside. The whole room contained the feeling that sunlight most likely hadn’t touched it in a long time.

He lay in a small bed with his arms chained to the sides of the bed like he had presumed. There were also some small metal tables in the room whose surfaces were filled with different medical instruments, prescription medications, and the like. The heart monitor stood to the side near his bed and an IV with a blood transfusion dripped steadily on the other. The door leading out of the room was partially shut, but from the crack that had been left ajar he could see out to what looked like a small living room with the beginnings of tiled floor slightly to the right, which most likely led to a small kitchen.

Joker leaned back slightly and rolled his eyes. “Hmph. There we go again with the pushiness. Didn’t I already tell you? I found you.”

Bruce stared levelly at the other man waiting for further explanation. At Bruce’s glare, Joker reached forward again and tapped the tip of Bruce’s nose playfully exclaiming, “You! My friend! Looked to have gotten yourself into quite a pinch. When I found you, you were laying on the floor of some filthyyy Crime Alley warehouse. So!” Joker leaned back again, nearly tipping his chair back at the sudden movement and throwing his arms up wide exclaimed, “I took it all upon myself to take you in and heal up your little broken bat wings! I figured this would… _ah_ , make a great bonding opportunity for you and me.” He smirked at the end, staring at Bruce with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

After a moment Joker continued, “Don’t you remember anything Batsy-baby or did those bad bad men you were hunting down really hit your head that hard?”

Bruce frowned, his glare at the madman only intensifying as his mood soured. “I remember I was following a few of Black Mask’s men. They seemed to be up to something suspicious last night and I wanted to investigate further. I followed them into the warehouse and then…” Bruce trailed off.

“Hmm, mhmm that seems about right.” Joker nodded agreeing. “If I were to make an educated guess! I’d say you fell into a trap!”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Hmph, yes. It appears I did. If they even were Black Mask’s men to begin with that is.” He exasperated, growing a little tired of this whole ordeal and especially of being tied to this bed in front of such unwelcome company.

Joker seemed genuinely surprised at Bruce’s accusation for a moment. Eyes wide he started at Bruce and pouted, “What is that supposed to mean?” He then smirked and giggled a bit, “You don’t think little ol me had anything to do with this do ya? Why Batsy I’m hurt!”

Bruce stared blankly at the other man and, dropping a little of the pretense, Joker lowed his arms down to lean on the edge of Bruce’s bed and moved in closer. His voice dropped slightly but his familiar smile remained painted on as he spoke, “Besides Bats, don’t you think if I DID have something to do with all this I’d make _absolutely certain_ you knew that?”

Bruce met and held his captor’s gaze, not backing down as he replied, “Right and I suppose I’m just supposed to take your word for it?”

“Well it doesn’t look like you have much of a choice do you? You’re pretty, _uh_ , strapped in here at the moment.” He teased, tugging slightly on one of Bruce’s arm restraints. “Besides, even if you weren’t so tied to me, so to speak, I wasn’t joking when I said you got yourself pretty banged up! You know, I almost had half a mind to intimidate some unsuspecting doctor from Gotham General to come down here and help me patch you up! Good thing I happen to know a bit about first-aid from all of our little run-ins in the past.”

“And is there any particular reason you’ve chosen now to try and play doctor?”

Joker let out a gleeful giggle at Bruce’s choice of words. He twirled a piece of green hair in between his fingers loosely and gazed down at Bruce before answering, “To be honest dear? I’ve grown a little bored of our usual dance ya know? Dance and dance and dance and dance. I’ve loved it up until now don’t get me wrong! But now? I’m bored! Out with the old and in with the new! And I think a new, different dance might be possible for us. Besides,” His smirk widened as he cocked his head to the side, “I do rather like seeing you _ah_ tied to my bed after all.”

Bruce bit back a growl at his enemy's antics. He paused for a moment to try and take in more of his present situation. He had been completely stripped of his batsuit and was now dressed in a pair of loose-fitting black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. More importantly, his utility belt was also missing and he didn’t see either his suit or his belt anywhere in the room around him. He was pretty fairly secured by the restraints and he had no idea what the extent of his injuries were. Additionally, there were a fair amount of scalpels and other sharp objects in the room that included a very alert Joker sitting right in front of him. Bruce had seen the Joker do more damage with less and he wasn’t going to take any chances. Things weren’t exactly looking up at the moment. It might be best to just continue playing along for the time being, but the Joker wasn’t known for being predictable and the longer Bruce stayed here the more at risk he, and the whole of Gotham would be.

Just as Bruce was thinking that over, the shrill beeping from an alarm clock on the table closest to his bed started up.

“Ah! Time to take your medicine~!” The Joker sang out. He got up swiftly and crossed the room, rummaging through one of the drawers before pulling out a bright orange pill bottle. “Alright Brucey-babe! Open up!” He exclaimed joyously, shaking the bottle in Bruce’s face. The pills rattled around inside before Joker drew in back and popped the white cap off. He shook out two pills and placed them on nightstand before drawing up and heading outside of the room. He quickly reemerged with a small glass of water in hand. He picked up the pills and held them up to Bruce’s mouth. Bruce eyed them warily, his eyes drifting from the medication to the glass in Joker’s other hand. The perspiration from the cool glass was beginning drip off and a few small beads of water rolled down the Joker’s white skin. Bruce started at the liquid making it’s way down his wrist for a moment, stalling the inevitable.

“Oh come now Brucey d _ar_ ling, they’re only painkillers! With those injuries you want these, trust me.” He brought the pills to touch against the soft skin of Bruce’s lips, not threateningly but just forceful enough to get across that Bruce shouldn’t consider resisting.

Bruce opened his mouth hesitantly, not seeing any other option in his present situation other than to comply. Besides, if the other man had wanted to poison him he would have had ample opportunity to already do so. Joker pushed the pills past Bruce’s lips and into his mouth surprisingly gently, the pads of his fingertips briefly touching the tip of Bruce’s tongue before they drew back and a glass of water was placed to his lips instead.

Bruce swallowed both of the pills in one go and Joker leaned back, looking satisfied with his patient.

“There now, that wasn’t so hard was it?”

Bruce didn’t respond and the Joker sighed, “You can keep on all you want with the silent treatment babe but it’s completely unwarranted! I’m only trying to help you!”

“Hmph. That’d be a first.” Bruce bit out, not even bothering to hide his accompanying eye roll.

“Tsk- your lack of faith is truly disheartening. Don’t act so suspicious. Of course I’m trying to help you. What would I do without my favorite bat running around the streets of Gotham?” The Joker traced one of his fingers down Bruce’s torso lazily, watching his own finger as it moved across the cotton of Bruce’s shirt, dragging the fabric as it went. “Besides,” he began, finger coming to rest at the base of Bruce’s stomach, “I told you already didn’t I? This time I want our dance to be different.”                         


	2. Chapter 2

_“But something kept me standing by that hospital bed. I should have quit but instead I took care of you.”_

 

\--

 

Bruce’s eyes flitted between the offending finger still resting on his abdomen and the Joker’s sharp green eyes as Joker met his gaze evenly.

“If you really wanted to help me you would have turned me over to medical professionals when you found me. Not keep me locked up here like some kind of experiment for your amusement.”

“Tsk- Haven’t you ever shown an ounce of gratitude once in your life? From now on you’re going to need more help than ever. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t realized it by now...” As he spoke his palm spread over Bruce’s lower stomach. His hand rested there and it would have felt almost comforting if Bruce hadn’t been distracted by the sharp stab of ice the Joker’s words had caused him to feel. He had learned by now to only anticipate the worst from the man before him, especially when he was dancing in circles and being purposefully vague like this.

“What are you talking about?” His words came out a bit harsher than intended, tone affected by the rising state of his anxiety.

Joker’s gaze looked almost pitying for a moment, but Bruce knew better than to ever expect such a true emotion from the madman. It was only for a brief moment that he entertained it, but it was still enough to unsettle him. The idea that someone who had caused so much pain, suffering, and death, while laughing the whole time could feel anything close to empathy was just not a possibility. Not one Bruce could afford to entertain anyway. Sure enough, as if reading his mind, the Joker’s face split into a grin as he slipped into that familiar teasing persona once again.

“Oh Brucey baby...” the hand on his abdomen began to slide lower and lower, over his hip and down to his thigh. The grin on Joker’s face widened, stretching white skin tightly to accommodate for that all too familiar smile. Bruce tried to resist squirming under his gaze, not wanting to relinquish any dominance over the situation to the other. Joker kept his eyes locked on Bruce’s own, hand still stroking over his thigh as he continued, “You poor poor little broken bat you.”

Bruce finally broke off the consuming eye contact to glance down to where Joker’s hand lay on his leg. At first he simply felt confused as to what the Joker was going on about, but as he continued to look down he realized there was in fact an abnormality to this situation. He hadn’t realized before but his legs lay across the bed without any kind of restraints whatsoever… which didn’t make much sense because he definitely felt as if they were bound to the bed. Meanwhile, Joker’s eyes hadn’t left Bruce’s once so he saw with perfect clarity the moment realization began to dawn on Bruce. His blue eyes widened and those pale pink lips parted a fraction of an inch as time seemed to ebb to a still for a moment. Then all at once, it was if time shot forward again as Bruce’s eyes flew up to lock with the Joker’s again.

“You-” Bruce started, looking as if he just had the wind knocked out of him. Joker stared down, his green eyes unblinking and completely transfixed by the sight of his bat looking so emotive, laying out before him. Bruce’s mouth hung open slightly and his fingers curled and uncurled in a rapid motion. He wanted to yell or cry or maybe both, but just as quickly as his emotions had spiked out of control, his years of training and emotional suppression kicked in and those feelings were squashed back down. He suddenly felt a great emptiness weigh over him, staring down at his now useless legs. He needed to hold it together. He couldn’t afford any slipups in this already precarious situation. His shut his mouth and closed his eyes for a brief moment before reopening them to meet Joker’s gaze head on.

“Get out. Now. And get my things, I’m contacting Alfred and going to a real hospital immediately.”

Joker’s face twisted in a mix of annoyance and disappointment at this reaction on Bruce’s part.

“Ahh... now Batsy let’s not be rash. This is my place after all...” He rested his arms again on the side of Bruce’s bed and leaned in closer, head tilted to the side playfully. “Why don’t you tell the good doctor what’s really bothering you _hmm_?”

“What’s bothering me is that I’m being held captive by a criminal madman when I _clearly_ need immediate medical attention from someone who-”

Bruce was forced to pause when he was unexpectedly cut off by a sharp screech of laughter from the man beside him. “Do- do you really think anyone is going to be able to help you?” Joker laughed, looking down at Bruce incredulously. “Do you really think anything about this situation is reversible? I know you don’t exactly have toooo much faith in my medical abilities but trust me baby,” Joker said, jabbing a finger right in the center of Bruce’s torso, “The best doctors in all of Metropolis wouldn’t be able to fix those broken things.”

Bruce scowled and shifted a bit, trying to get out from under the other. He was uncomfortable with how overly familiar the clown seemed to be with touching his body.

“Anywho!” Joker exclaimed, pushing his chair back and standing up suddenly. “I have some business to attend to in town. Which is nothing _you_ need to worry your pretty little bat-head over of course.”

There seemed to be a noticeable change that had suddenly overshadowed Joker’s mood. His normally high-energy and sporadic demeanor seemed to have taken on a different kind of intensity entirely at Bruce’s reaction. The clown normally had an energy that buzzed in the air around him, living and palpable. But now he seemed to have switched to an attitude even more manic than usual, if that was at all possible.

Bruce wanted to ignore Joker’s pointed diversion from their original conversation topic, but he also had to convince the madman not to leave him alone and strapped to this bed for who knows how long before he took off. So before Joker could have the chance to leave, Bruce stopped him with an exclamation of, “Wait! Don’t you dare just leave me tied up like this.”

Joker quirked an eyebrow and smirked down at Bruce as he stood. Hand pressing into the mattress for support and causing Bruce’s body to dip slightly as it did so.

“Miss me already babe? I mean… not that I can blame you. Don’t worry though, this shouldn’t take too long and I’ll be back soon. This,” Joker gestured towards Bruce’s restraints, “Is only going to be a temporary situation too… at least until I can get you to a place more, _ah,_ secure.”

With that Joker turned around and strutted out the door, closing and locking it as he went. Not that he really needed to do that anyway. Bruce was quite restrained to the bed and it would take much too long for him to get anywhere with these… legs. Bruce sighed and stared up at the blank ceiling above him. The bedsheets felt cheap and scratchy underneath his body and without the clown’s consuming presence to distract him, Bruce could feel himself slipping into the restlessness and discomfort that accompanied feelings of confinement. It hadn’t been that long since he had awoken, but everything since he had had been an absolute headache and Bruce didn’t know how much more of this he could take. He glanced around the room as much as he was able to in order to see if there was anything he could use to his advantage, whether to escape or to fight off his capture whenever he returned should things head South. An outcome not terribly unlikely when the madman was concerned.

And what had the Joker meant anyway when he said that he wanted things to be different between the two of them? If the clown had found Bruce in such a state as he had claimed, Bruce thought the other would have surely killed him off by now. If not that, at least leave him to whatever end his enemies had intended for him. Well... whatever Joker had originally meant, things were certainly going to be different from here on out. There was no way they could possibly be the same after all. Just what was going to happen to him? Bruce faced the chance of death every time he went out on patrol... and he had always thought that of all the ways to die, that would be a good death. To die protecting Gotham… his parents would have been proud of a death like that for their son, surely. Bruce had always pictured dying in the field, in the midst of a battle. Not here, not trapped like an animal, completely at the mercy of the whims and desires of his captor. This type of death wasn’t honorable, no, after everything dying like this would just be pathetic.

Bruce closed his eyes against the yellowing glow of the overhead florescent light in contemplation. If he couldn’t escape, the next solution would be to hope that somebody found him. His batsuit was nowhere to be found and this of course, included his communicator, so he had no way to contact Alfred or Damian. If the Joker hadn’t taken his things he could only assume that Black Mask’s men had. Either way, he knew that Joker wasn’t stupid enough to not scan the suit for any tracking mechanisms or things of the like. So even when people started to become suspicious of his absence, it was highly unlikely that he would be found anytime soon. Joker had probably taken great care to ensure that he wouldn’t be found for as long as possible.

So if Bruce wanted to stand any chance at making it out of here alive his only option was to _somehow_ find a way to escape. Another sigh escaped through his lips as he thought through some possible plans of action. As Bruce lay there on his bed, the weight of the day slowly began to settle upon him and eventually he could feel himself once more being dragged into the dark haze of a drug induced sleep.

\--

When Bruce next awoke it was to the sound of the Joker returning to the apartment a few hours later. As he blinked awake he could hear the sounds of the other man rummaging about somewhere outside of his door. He lay still on the bed until Joker finally opened the door and made his appearance across the threshold.

“Why helloooo Batsy!” Joker’s green hair appeared around the doorway in a flash and the other man wasted no time in closing the distance between them and making his way over to Bruce’s side.

“I take it you had a fine time and didn’t miss me too terribly while I was away hmm?”

Joker stood beside Bruce’s bed again, moved back and forth on the balls of his feet. His hands were clasped behind his back and his green hair had a slightly windswept look to it, as if he had just been running, the green strands falling around his face slightly disheveled. Like this he seemed almost as electric as he had acted the last time he was in Bruce’s presence.

“Joker?” Bruce started, his tone softer as he was still waking up from having just fallen asleep yet again. Bruce hadn’t been able to get anywhere significant with the other man during their last conversation and now that he had had time to collect his thoughts, he had thought things through and had decided that taking a different approach with his captor might be more beneficial.

“Hmm?” Joker looked down, eyeing him with a glint in his eye, “Yes Bats, what is it?”

At the Joker’s prompting Bruce caught the other man’s vibrant green gaze with his own cool blue one. With Joker’s attention now zeroed in on him, Bruce weighed the words carefully in his mind before deciding how to phrase what he wanted to say.

“I understand your reasoning for keeping me so… locked up.” He said, pulling slightly on his arm restraints for extra emphasis. “But considering there’s not much I would be able to do given my present circumstances, I don’t think all of this is really necessary. I think it would be in everyone’s best interest for you to let me go. Then we can discuss the terms of your reinstatement into Arkham Asylum instead of dealing with the fallout whenever Robin should arrive.” His tone had become more firm towards the end, which he hadn’t intended since it didn’t go along with his tactic of trying to reason with Joker before things got even more out of hand, but it was a hard habit to break out of when it came to his arch-enemy.

Surprisingly however, Joker seemed a little more open to negotiating now than he had when Bruce last mentioned it before he had headed out.

“Hmm you know what Batsy? I think you just might be onto something there. Infact! This is a great opportunity to show you the little present that I picked up for you while I was out!” Joker clapped his hands together excitedly and continued, a wide grin on his face, “You just hang tight loverboy and I’ll go get it for you!” At that, he then spun on the heel of his foot and made his way back towards the door he had just come out of, smile never faltering the whole time.

When he returned it was the Joker’s voice that grabbed Bruce’s attention before he could actually see whatever it was that the other man had in tow.

“Don’t go rushing to thank me! After all you won’t be able to use this until some final preparations have been made and we can get you where you belong! I figured I would show it to you anyway though, just so you know you have something to look forward to.”

Bruce craned his neck from the confined space of his bed to try and catch a glimpse of whatever it was Joker was talking about. He wasn’t able to see the object of discussion however until Joker wheeled it out into Bruce’s line of sight and Bruce felt his heart drop from his chest. Several emotions coursed through him at rapid speed and Bruce felt anger, insult, and despair wash over him one by one. Most of all though, what Bruce felt looking down at the simple black wheelchair that Joker currently had a hold of, was a deep-seated sense of sickness rolling around in his gut.

Bruce ground his teeth as his eyes squinted up at Joker’s smiling face in disgust.

“You…” he started, pausing as he felt waves of anger roll over him, “How dare you.” He finally managed to get out, his eyes squinted in a piercing glare up at Joker’s face which maintained its look of impenetrable glee.  

Just as Joker’s smiling lips parted to form the words of his response, they were interrupted from their tense exchange by a harsh and urgent thumping from outside the apartment door. Joker’s face froze for a brief moment before a look of confusion and then a sharp sense of urgency passed through his eyes before his face turned carefully blank. Not wasting a moment, he immediately let go of the wheelchair and headed towards the source of the persistent knocking without another glance in Bruce’s direction. Bruce’s eyes followed him for as long as he could retain the clown in his vision. He listened intently after he had passed beyond his view but after Joker opened the door he shut it quickly behind him, choosing to take the conversation outside rather than within the confines of their shared walls. All that Bruce could make out was an urgent exclamation of, “Boss! I’m sorry I know you said not to visit you here but-” before the door was slammed shut behind him and silence fell over Bruce’s limp body once again.

In the still silence of a room closed off from the outer world, Bruce’s eyes gradually drifted back over to rest on the abysmal form of Joker’s gift to him, with its sharp metal edges and generally unwelcome presence. As Bruce lay there waiting, he gradually felt the hot anger in his gut cool to a sharp, but less intense, pang of resentment. The tips of his fingers, which had been curling and uncurling on the sheets of his bed, began to tap against the mattress with impatience as he waited for Joker’s inevitable return.

Sure enough, eventually Bruce heard the door creak open and Joker’s footsteps made their way over the threshold, entering much more calmly than he had left. As Joker reappeared by Bruce’s bedside however, the unusually serious look that had washed over his face gave Bruce pause. Before Bruce could even worry about managing to get a word out, Joker beat him to the punch with a quick utterance of,

“Terribly sorry to have to cut your stay here short _darling_. But we’re going to have to leave. Now.”

Bruce blinked in confusion at the sudden declaration and was about to respond when he noticed Joker drifting towards one of the small metal tables full of various medical equipment.

“Joker…” Bruce began warily as Joker lowered his hand to the messy array on the table and came away with a suspicious looking syringe clasped in his grip.

Bruce’s heart kicked up a few beats as Joker drew nearer to him wordlessly. This wasn’t… this wasn’t at all how Joker normally behaved, which in his past experience, was never a good sign. Bruce’s heart alit in a full flutter of panic as Joker paused beside his bed and stared down at him.

“I’m sorry Brucie _baby_ but this is for the best, you’ll see. After all, all you have to do is trust me.”  
Those were the last words Bruce remembered before he felt the unwelcome prick and push of the syringe in his neck and blackness consumed his vision.


End file.
